Human joints, in particular the knee, hip, shoulder, ankle, and spine, are susceptible to degeneration from disease, trauma, and long-term repetitive use that eventually lead to pain. Joint pain arising from arthritis, for example, is the impetus for a wide majority of medical treatments and associated medical costs. The most popular theory arising from the medical community is that joint pain results from bone-on-bone contact or inadequate cartilage cushioning. These conditions are believed to frequently result from the progression of osteoarthritis, which is measured in terms of narrowing of the joint space. Therefore, the severity of osteoarthritis is believed to be an indicator or precursor to joint pain. Most surgeons and medical practitioners thus base their treatments for pain relief on this theory. For example, the typical treatment is to administer pain medication, or more drastically, to perform some type of joint resurfacing or joint replacement surgery.
However, the severity of osteoarthritis, such as for example in the knee, has been found to correlate poorly with the incidence and magnitude of knee pain. Because of this, surgeons and medical practitioners have struggled to deliver consistent, reliable pain relief to patients especially if preservation of the joint is desired.
Whether by external physical force, disease, or the natural aging process, structural damage to bone can cause injury, trauma, degeneration or erosion of otherwise healthy tissue. The resultant damage can be characterized as a bone defect that can take the form of a fissure, fracture, lesion, edema, tumor, or sclerotic hardening, for example. Particularly in joints, the damage may not be limited to a bone defect, and may also include cartilage loss (especially articular cartilage), tendon damage, and inflammation in the surrounding area.
Patients most often seek treatment because of pain and deterioration of quality of life attributed to the osteoarthritis. The goal of surgical and non-surgical treatments for osteoarthritis is to reduce or eliminate pain and restore normal joint function. Both non-surgical and surgical treatments are currently available for joint repair.
Non-surgical treatments can include weight loss (for the overweight patient), activity modification (low impact exercise), muscle strengthening, analgesic and anti-inflammatory medications, and with corticosteroid and/or viscosupplements. Typically, non-surgical treatments, usually involving pharmacological intervention such as the administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or injection of hyaluronic acid-based products, are initially administered to patients experiencing relatively less severe pain or joint complications. However, when non-surgical treatments prove ineffective, or for patients with severe pain or bone injury, surgical intervention is often necessary.
In the case of hips and shoulders, surgical options include partial hip or shoulder replacement, or total hip (THA) or total shoulder arthroscopy (TSA). Joint replacement surgery is often recommended for patients with severe pain associated with osteoarthritis, especially when other non-invasive options have failed. Both procedures have been shown to be effective in treating joint pain associated with osteoarthritis. However, patients only elect to undergo this type of surgery with reluctance. Both partial to total hip or shoulder arthroscopies are major surgical interventions and may be associated with severe complications. They are painful procedures that may require a long recovery. TKA patients often also report the replaced knee lacks a “natural feel” and have functional limitations. Moreover, both THA and TKA have limited durability. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a medical procedure that addresses the pain associated with osteoarthritis and provides an alternative to a THA, TSA or TKA procedure.